As a follow up to my writing yesterday about our children. This song came up in my writings so here it is
Truer words have not been spoken.
Mike and The Mechanics.
This song is so true , you know scripture tells us this. Blessed is the peace makers….
Matthew 5 verse 9
9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
We need to be the peace makers. I have learned through life experience whether I was right or wrong that the chasm needs to be at least attempted to be fixed. God calls us to get our egos and differences out of the way and let go let God.
We all have family stuff , we all have friends stuff we are living imperect lives with stress and problems. but we are also infused with the Holy Spirit that is the presernce of God within us. He can do things that we cannot. He will move us to greatness if we say yes and allow him to show us the way.
Never leave a word unsaid with anyone that you love because none of us knows when that opportunity will come to an end.
The first thing I would like to say is sorry. A friend told me that my blog experienced a loss of some of the attached video files. I have no idea why. I spent about 5 hours restoring the blog entrees so that they function as I intended them to do. Just another challenge. 🙂
I will go further back into the blog all 270 or so and make sure that they all are in working order.
This blog needs to function as God intended it to in order to help others.
The plain truth of the matter about my personal life is this. I am a man in the dessert of my life at this moment and I am living this life challenge to the best of my ability.
I know God’s awesome power, I am living it. Up until 5 years ago you could ask everyone that knows me that I was the fun creative guy in the crowd who was just not very serious.
5 years ago God took my life into a different rhelm one that I never knew existed. Just as I was starting to try to figure out that whole experience my business slowed down and I now was facing economic changes in my personal life. After these two life events took aim and attacked my life , my mother fell gravely ill in the Spring of 2011. We spent everyday at my mom’s bedside until she went home the day before Thanksgiving of that same year. In the meantime the Spring of 2012 brought me terminal brain cancer. Since that diagnosis God again moved in my life and has made incredible things happen to me. My mom went to the Lord Aug, 2013 and even given my faith it hurt like heck and still does.
The next piece to my life journey is this blog. This blog is my third form of Spiritual writing that I have been called to do. I have to state again for the record that I am no writer. It is not a natural process for me. I am not an open book type of person but I have become one by God’s design. At one point I began to write that I needed to die to self. I have come to understand exactly what that means as I spilled my life out in my different writing endeavors.
I also know that this is my calling in this moment. I feel a sense of peace in my soul that this is my job for God. I am to witness my journey and his Victory in my life defeating an evil that attacked me to silence my voice.
I know that this is my truth. The other part of me Danny the average regular guy has struggled to keep up with all of these monumental life changes. It still seams like fantasy Island at times. I am being completely honest with you.
I needed the week away from this blog to just stop the process. I have spent time just being. I have spent a lot of time sitting before the Lord in the chapel.
It was beautiful but it is work keeping silent and stopping my mind from wandering. Silence also makes you take on the issues in your heart and mind very honestly. It is a tough and necessary process though. Life is easy when you drown out everything with work, noise, tv and music.
God does not call us to be constantly distracted , he wants our attention. He wants a conversation with us.
In the chapel I feel so peaceful. God is present. I opened my heart up to God in a very special way last Monday while in the chapel and felt a warmth surround me like I was being hugged it was breathtaking.
Moments like that are the reason that I believe that I am not crazy but I am human who is living an Spiritual journey thus I cannot fully comprehend everything that was and is taking place.
Times have changed so much. When I was a young boy my neighborhood had the nicest mailman. Everyone knew him and the kids and dogs thought he was great.
Sam would drive and walk his mail route. He used to take a couple of kids on his lunch break with their parents approval for a hot dog and ice cream. Then we would ride around in his US postal jeep and watch him deliver the mail.
Sam was married and did not have children. He was kind and always had dog cookies for the dogs on his route. He was giving out cookies to the dogs even through the mail slots. I remember he was missing the top part of his index finger. He told me that a dog thought it was a cookie. Lol
There was a huge saint Bernard dog that was so excited to see him and the mail truck on the street so he would bark, run off his porch to see Sam and he would climb into the jeep for a ride. Sam would laugh and give him cookies. On our way back out of the neighborhood he would stop and get the dog out and back on his porch. Looking back 99 percent of the things that Sam did 46 years ago would never be allowed now. But it was awesome. Sam also let us chew his green apple gum that he had. 🙂
This is the type of dog,full grown of course.
I am grateful for the memory of this kind man. He listened to each kid that took a ride in his jeep or walked the route with him. He was a great role model for each kid that he took along for a short while on his route. We were not invisible to him. When we went to the dairy bar down the street for the hotdog,the man behind the counter would say hello Sam, who’s your friend today. So nice. 🙂
This scripture was from my bible ap. I could not have picked a better reading for this wonderful man. He did not have children of his own so he helped to raise others. What a great man. God Bless Him. 🙂
13 Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him by his noble living show forth his [good] works with the [unobtrusive] humility [which is the proper attribute] of true wisdom.
It was an innocent time when I grew up where families were generally large and we ran all over the neighborhood and played. Our mothers and fathers had to get a check in call if we at a friend’s house. The parents knew each other and called each other as well. It was a great time where we as young children seemed somehow safer to move around.
I believe each one of us is the sum total of our life experiences. I believe that the kindness that I learned from my family and people like Sam the mailman equipped me with an awareness and need to let people know that they matter. In even the smallest way.
Life is beautiful and the people that we are encountering during our day should be validated. I don’t care if it is a check out person at the store, the person you hold the door for or the person on the bus. Everyone is lifted up just by being recognized. Just the fact that someone cared enough to share a kind word just means so much
What is there in life that is more important then to bless another person. To be Jesus to a young one on the road trying to find their way.
This song is for Sam who I am sure went to God many years ago.
The weather is changing, the days are longer and life is so beautiful so why not laugh. Just laugh and let the Spirit of joy lighten your heart and mind. Amen.
Hi All, I used these songs to end my day on Monday. I was lead to them after prayer and decided that they would be nice to share in this moment. Enjoy this beautiful Day. 🙂
Beautiful songs just enjoy. God is so good.
Yesterday: by , Mary / Mary
Laren Hill and Tanya Blount
This song reminds me of a lovely women that went to the Lord . God Bless you . C
In The Beginning of true Spiritual awakening of all of us is a long time in the making. We experience different levels of awareness in God, his existence and supreme gift to us all and I m not talking about life 🙂 That is a Miracle in itself. I am referring to the gift of The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit as far as I am concerned is our bridge to the Almighty, he facilitates all that is good, he inspires us, he warns us,he allows God to fill us with joy and allows our conscience to feel guilt for a wrong doing.The Holy Spirit will help to bring us to our knees for repentence before our Lord. The Holy Spirit that dwells within every one of us is God given and works in concert with our desires, needs and to allow us to fulfill our destiny for God and his people. We need to allow The Holy Spirit to work with us. We need to pray for his assistance in a meaningful way. I mentioned this in one of my recent blog writing that I began praying and commiting myself to God and the holy Spirit with my daily shower and telling all of Heaven that the water was my rededication and reminder of my baptismal water. I say daily to God that I surrender myself to whatever he wants from me and tell the Holy Spirit to please use me to the best of my ability. Lastly, I call on all of Heaven through my prayers for all of the Angels and Saints to please bestow on me any gifts of the Spirit that I may need in the future. Heaven is for real.:) This is a very special time that we are living in, a time like no other. It is a time of Miracles, it is a time of God’s pouring out of The Holy Spirit and Spiritural gifts for eachone of us. We all have our very own special gifts. Some we are born with some we acquire from God in the moment of his choosing. Our gifts can bend and change over a period of time based on what God wants and needs us to accomplish. The one prerequsite that God has for each of us to open our hearts and desire to be an agent of good to be the light to oneanother. It is simple. Through my childhood, adolescence and even into my 30’s I was always searching for my true God and his existence. I could feel him to a certain degree but the picture was still far from focus. During that time for me the 90’s. Life had a lot of moments of hurts from people you know, daily nonsence. Its hard to see God when you are surrounded by others who are not necessarily in Christ or God based. You are wandering around in a crowd of lost sheep many of which have no idea that they are even lost. I am not judging but it is indeed a fact. Well in the latter part of my 30’s I managed to bring my picture into a little more clarity with prayer and the assistance of others through a beautiful retreat know as Cursillo in a retreat house know as St. Basil’s in Methuen, Ma. that was I believe in Oct 1999. My wife went in November of the same year. It was life changing, the focus and picture was now crystal clear! It was an intersection where God made himself and his presence known. It is a Miracle, just as St. Basils is. You should call and look into this retreat house. It will be the best gift that you can give yourself ! So, I came back from that retreat and one of my friends called me the next day and said, hey Dan, I saw you walking on the water of the lake today 🙂 It was so funny,he knew that I was on Fire .lol Each day that we live sets the stage for the next day and action. So all of the many little or big moments of my daily journey that come out onto this blog journal are always building for a bigger God moment. They are all God moments because he is there with us getting us through. All of our Spiritual Gifts are to be shared. It is not about us. This blog tells my journey through God. It his victory over death (my) and yours. God wants my life psalm #139 shared so that all will see him, and draw closer to our Heavenly Father. 4- 5 years ago, I am not sure of the date, I was called out of the blue into some of the most intense Spiritual experiences that I could ever have imagined. I was blown out of the water, I will just refer to them as writing for my church. The details of those writings were not for us , they are for the church. I will say this anyone with a sense of Spiritural awareness just needs to look at the news or turn on the television to see what is going on. The world is out of balance. This process was stretching myself and family to the max. The Holy Spirit is just so awesome. My spiritual adviser said to me , Dan, lets just see where it goes, and we did. I will explain about this experience at a later date. My first vision, vivid dream, about 4-5 years ago during the time I was doing the church writings. I was asleep and had the most vivid dream. God uses our own lifes experiences and will make them part of his message in my case it was based in my lifes work and I have been for over 30 years through the gift of the Holy Spirit an interior Designer. I have done projects that when I had completed them looked at them and said, God, I did that! I did through God and love alone complete my projects .More on that later too!:) So, I was sleeping and my vision which seemed like forever started. I am giving my account to you exactly as It happened and was told to my priest, my adviser and friend long ago… This remember was more that 3 years before my cancer diagnosis. I walked up to the door of this house and rang the bell. I had decorating samples in my hand. A women came to the door and opened it, I just remember how pleasant she was, I could hear children laughing and she said, excuse me for a moment and walked away off to the left in the direction of the children. I did not see them but heard them laughing. So, I stood there and it seemed like a while, I being the type A personality and loving what I did. I said to myself, I will just walk in to the right here and see what she needs. So the interior was very itherial everything was a very soothing white color. It was extremely peaceful. I just kept walking and ahead of me was a hallway with a very bright light people were coming out of the light and passing me again all faces were non descript, everything was very etherial and white. I noticed that there was something on the wall that everyone that came out of the hall seemed to be stopping to look at so, I wandered over to it and looked and was a very pale colored picture I recognized it immediately. It was the shroud of Turin. I have to say this too, I had never given 1 seconds thought to the shroud in my life yet here it was . Well any way I could hear voices from down the end of the long extremely bright hallway and hear a booming voice and laughter it was pure joy. When I got to the entrance I realized, I shouldn’t be here, I had wondered from where I was left to wait. I would never wander around my clients home. So, I returned to where I was waiting by the door. I was getting annoyed and it was like 4 hours. Well, the really pleasant women was back and said she was sorry for the delay and she opened the door to the left of me. The children were quiet now and she guided me into the room. I stood there and there was a very large white table in front of me. As I stood there the women was standing to the left side of the table looking at me and there was another figure to the right side of the table looking at me as well. The women looked at me and, I felt love like I had never felt before. She said again sorry for the wait, I remember having been so angry to had to wait 4 hours for her to return and , I just responded its okay and she said to me you are an angel. Of course, I told Father I am certainly not, I am a sinner like everyone. I remember feeling intense love. I knew that it was my Blessed Mother. She without a word uttered pointed down to the table and moved her hand over the surface as if she wiped the table and the white milky color left and it now had a clear glass. It was a case. I could see all kinds of relics, bottles of oils, and religous statues related to my faith and she spoke these words to me, We want you to have many Spiritual gifts. And that was it. I woke up and is as alive today and vivid as the time that it occured. I have had years to think of why The Blessed Mother would call me an angel, because I am not. So I have a couple of thoughts on that. 1.) She knowing that I was upset with waiting for her which my Blessed Mother would know and yet I told her no problem thought that I was kind? 2.) Everything that I have done in writing including this blog through the Holy Spirit is never about me or any one of us . We are all loved the same. And what mother does not look upon her child at least as an angel in training? 🙂 Thats the best I can do on that thought last but not least the booming laughter and joy was, I know, was Our God! I was given a glimpse of Heaven. I pray everyday to continue to grow for his purpose and into his will completely . Amen. Better Is one day In Your House By Kutless https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdE03zRJtxw In Christs Holy Name, Danny
My illness took me, a type A personality who never stopped and alterered my whole reality and my identity of who I was to myself, my family and the world. I went from super dooer to a person who relied on everyone especially my wife and kids, family and many friends for the majority of my daily needs. I remember the personal guilt of feeling as is if I failed my family and those who relied on me at that time. My mom and dad included. The fact that I could not work, and am still not to this date, had really weighed on me . All the desires on my behalf of getting out of here have fallen short do to my slow but steady progress of recovery and the rebounding energy drain from treatment etc. I am a Roman Cathoilc by my parents choice at baptism, by the sacrament of Holy Communion , Confirmation etc. Having said that, I do believe is at some time in everyone’s life we are all born again. What I am trying to convey however clumby it may be is this. To me God, My personal God is waiting for us to personally meet him with a heart that yearns for him. I had always done the works before I had cancer. When I was a very young child I was a paperboy. On Thursday evenings I would go out deliver my evening route and collect the money from the customers, hopefully with a tip.:) I am guessing I was nineish. On Glen Ave in Arlington I had a number of clients, one inparticular has stayed in my heart and mind all theses years. Her name was Esther Sullivan. She lived in a second flloor apartment of a two family home. i would go up to her door ring the bell and there would be a buzz and the door would up lock for me. it was like Star trec or something. She could not do stairs easily anyway so, I would bring her paper up to her and her siamese cat would hiss at me.i though he was scary and exciting. His name was Tao. But, I digress. lol So anyways, during my visits. I would carry things in the kitchen because she was by herself and i wanted to. I began to spend a few more minutes there just talking to her about what ? maybe worms :)I then began to wash her kitchen floor her, I then went home and told my mom about Esther or in that day Mrs. Sullivan 🙂 My mom was making a cake at the time so I said mom can you make a little cake out of a small chicken pot pie tin, she was very compliant with my request and taada, Esther was getting a small cake weekly delivered in my mail bag on my stingray bike. The bottom line to this saga is this as a child our love and innocense guides so much. it is like the right thing to do is easily less complicated. Were just guided by God’s goodness and the Holy Spirit. As I got older personally doing good works and deeds became also combined with the fun of the crowd social aspect etc. Sorry was it really for God? The jury is still out. During my time here in a recliner ,I have had a lot of time to evaluate everything, not by emotion but by the Gold standard God, his teaching, commandments and what is this whole thing about meaning life. I do not know all the answers, i suspect I never will but I know the most important thing. God! He call us to love eachother the way that he loves us. God wants us to go to him for forgiveness , in my case that would be the confessional. because, I have learned that I need to forgive myself what i felt was my failure by getting sick and altering my whole families world. through my prayer, my confessional visits and a wonderful Priest, God has healed much more of my life that my body, my Spirit is awake and aware and the vision of myself as danny the person can love himself a lot more and accept that i did not bring this on myself. neither did God but he getting me through it one way or the other. He is the boss! He doing the very same for you all and always has. Well, One day I made my way to Esthers stairway rang the bell and there was no response after a few minutes, a man opened the screen door on the first floor and I said i was looking for mrs. Sullivan and he said she does not live here anymore. I still miss her today.Some times I wonder If she was sent as an angel into my life to see if I would respond to God’s calling. On a kind of sillier note I hope she was allowed to eat sugar and my little cakes were not leathal. Well in closing in Danny’s world here, I have made an effort whoever clumbsy to find God and it took diagnosis day when the Good Shepperd met me where I was at. We need to work our faith and pray even when we cannot feel anything. God will not fail to respond. And furthermore he will always meet us in the moment. Here is here. Feel the breeze on your face look at the beauty of a baby that you encounter it is that easy.
Just Danny Speaks 